The bells above the door jingled, notifying the old man of a visitor's arrival and making him look up from his book. Raising his head and seeing the guest's physiognomy, the old man said with a laugh: "Kid, got roughed up by the rich brats from your school again? I think you really need to lose weight. Not only are you constantly getting beaten up, I'm starting to worry that with your dimensions, you risk leaving this world an innocent boy."
Hearing the old man's words, Rae smiled and said: "I'm still young, and I have my whole life ahead of me, but I can say for sure that with such a nasty temper, you're headed for a lonely old age. So you'd better worry about yourself. Also: you should prepare the money, because you lost again. But this time you can keep it, since I want to buy out Lolita."
Hearing the guy's words, the old man looked at him strangely and said: "I suspected you had specific tastes, but you are aware that involves jail time?" "Very funny, old man. Now let's get serious: are you going to sell me the book or not?"
Thinking for a moment, the old man said half-jokingly: "Let's make a deal: you tell me who that unfortunate soul is that you decided to pay attention to, and I'll give you the book for free."
With these words, the old man intended to embarrass the guy, but he simply said calmly: "What makes you think it's a girl? Maybe I decided to buy the book for myself."
Hearing this, the old man smirked and said: "Kid, I've known you for many years, and I know perfectly well what a cheapskate you are. You wouldn't buy a book for yourself, and your mother, as far as I know, doesn't particularly like reading. You definitely don't have male friends who know how to read, so I want to know who that unfortunate soul is who managed to catch your attention." "There's nothing between us, we just work together, and today I'm going to do something stupid that might get me beaten up. This book will be my attempt at an apology." "I don't want to discourage you, but if you decided to rape someone, one book as an apology will clearly not be enough."
Stopping the exchange of barbs, Rae and old Joe began discussing books. It was precisely their love for them that allowed these two to become good friends despite the age difference. Having spent some time in the old man's shop, Rae headed off to work.